I did an awesome tennis photo shoot yesterday with a tennis professional and professor. My friend Yesenia took some of me playing tennis as she fervently gazed at the tennis pro. Here are some shots she took of me on my main Instagram:
The job was officially for the magazine, but now I am unsure if this will be a cover story. The shots I took are definitely cover-worthy. The tennis pro loved the shots. He was an awesome guy. We exchanged my book for a lot of tennis balls that he had. He texted me later that night that he was enjoying my book.
I only have like 7 copies left. You can buy it here!
I ran out of copies of my Tijuana Adventure book months ago. I only have one copy left that I am keeping for myself. I’ll call it the master copy even though it is not. I need to keep translating it into Spanish. Which I have done much lately. The middle is done. Now it needs a beginning and a new end. And I think I know what I want the new end to be.
Chapter 23. Rossana.
I told her about this. She might think I was joking. But I might make her one chapter.
Fuck.
I just got an email that made me angry. There’s no money left in the place I work and I can tell. I asked for an advance paycheck that’s not truly an advance. I am doing the work this week. It should qualify for this bi-weeks paycheck.
I am still charging them less than I should. But there’s no money so I keep my prices low. I need better gigs. Because this is just not cutting it. I’ve been saying it for years. Need to jump ship and find greener grass. I need to make way more money.
I’ve been shooting a lot. Not as much as I used to when I was a paparazzi. But I am shooting more. Yesterday was the tennis shots. On Monday I had a sexy shoot with a tiny girl. That will go to my secret account. Over the weekend I went to Ensenada with the girl I’m seeing (Chapter 23). It went great. And I also took a bunch of pictures. She wouldn’t let me take her pictures like I wanted, but once she saw the results, I’m sure she will let me take whatever.
The week before, I worked with my sister-in-law and she was also happy with the pictures that she hired me again for this week.
Follow her page:
That week, I also did a photo shoot for the magazine. It went alright. It wasn’t at the right hour and the story wasn’t exciting. I also hurt my back really bad that I was barely mobile. The previous night I got a deep tissue massage from my neighbor and though I was feeling alright, once I started moving around with my gear… the pain was unbearable.
That cover just came out right now!
I like it.
Thought it was not the best photoshoot, the cover looks great. You can read it here.
Chapter 23 just told me she wants to see me today. So yay!
I have the day off basically… That’s why I am here blogging. And I have a shit ton of posts to make of pictures I took that I haven’t posted.
This will help me write the text.
It is the first time I take a romantic interest to Ensenada, my favorite place at the moment. The drive was lovely as always. She drove. After dropping our stuff in the Airbnb, we went to Transpeninsular and we were greeted with I Wanna Beer with you’s reception for her wedding and a bunch of beer judges on their lunch break from judging the Ensenada Beer Fest!
I only took her to places that I knew would guarantee her a smile. She got the aguachile and I got the oysters like always. She says she doesn’t like beer because of the bitterness, then ends up loving high IBU IPAs. I also got two cans of their unreleased hoppy IPA. It’s probably my favorite of Transpeninsular so far, reminiscent of Alpine’s duet or a classic Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo.
We also hung out with the owner of the brewery who introduced me to owners of other breweries. One of those was the owner of Thorn. I’ve been drinking a lot of his beers since I got a case of beer from Miguel, the dude on the motorcycle that I took pictures of on the beach. What a small world.
That Drinking Beer with Matingas is coming soon. I drank 24 Thorn beers so you don’t have to. Preview. They are all fucking great. Not so preview, there are a lot of interesting ones and I have a lot to say. I have two left in my fridge that I will drink on camera.
From Transpeninsular we drove to my favorite brewery in Ensenada, Cardera. First, we did a quick pitstop to collect 1,000 pesos from a guy who owed me money for writing something in Spanish for his magazine. First time I write something in Spanish in years. It hasn’t come out yet, but soon it will be. My work. Printed in a magazine in Español. I’m excited.
Though she says she doesn’t like beer, she loved a lot of them again. Heavily favoring the coco-porter and the lemonade hard seltzer. For me, they are all fantastic. Cardera has never failed me. Again, we were greeted with a barrage of brewers and beer lovers that I know from Tijuana, including la Criatura del Señor, Ham. Collaborations between Morenos and Cardera and 93 Beer and Cardera were on tap and it was hoppy deliciousness. My date wanted nachos, and though I don’t favor the food in Cardera, she was happy with the huge tray of munchies.
Though it was only the second spot and it was early, we were already getting tired. One more stop for the night. I told her it was between Wendlandt in El Sauzal or Agua Mala. Our Airbnb was in El Sauzal so it made sense to drive north. On the way to Wendlandt she saw Agua Mala’s pretty lights and asked how that place was. I told her that was option B and we should just take it. It was the right choice.
I got the tiradito de atún and she got the atún tartar tostada accompanied with a flight of beers that we shared (it was mostly me). They didn’t have their throwback Astillero IPA which was one of the reasons I visited, but Agua Mala is also always top-notch so everything was delicioso.
Back to the Airbnb we went and I had Transpeninsular’s new beer before sleeping (I mean… more things happened before sleeping but you get the point).
We woke up early. Or was it late? We have no idea because daylight savings time happened that night and we were a bit disoriented on what time it was. After cuddling for an hour. Or perhaps 10 minutes. Or maybe it was 2 hours. Who knows. We headed to get a late breakfast… to…
Marco Antonio Tacos de Pescado!
She was so happy with that place. Everything was delicious. I always want the empani-crab because I love crab but they never have it (I must get there earlier). We ordered a variety of tacos but the new discovery is that their chicharrón de pescado is delicious (and a great addition to any of their tacos). It’s like crunchy little fish nuggets. I want that for breakfast now…
My date has an addiction to Mexican sweet bread. My friend Kelvin told me of the best in Ensenada, our first choice wasn’t opened on a Sunday, so we swung by the second choice La Reyna Vazquez Pastelitos Franceses. I’m not much for sweets, but éclairs hit me right in the yum yum. She wanted the same one. The last mocha éclair, but she knew I wanted that and instead got a small pineapple pie. We went across the street for coffee at Café María. It was decent. I still haven’t found an Ensenada coffee shop that has superb quality.
We then wasted time on the beach taking pictures and enjoying the sunny Ensenada Sunday before heading back to Tijuana. Last pitstop, Wendlandt at El Sauzal.
She was so happy again. Knowing that she loved the coco-porter from Cardera, I got her the 1,171 KM imperial stout, the collaboration between Ensenada and Zagreb (exactly the distance between the two cities). I’ve had it before on the show. It’s excellent on a can. It’s excellent on draft.
We got a tostada each, tiradito of fresh catch for me and tartar de atún for her. Both excellent. Not satisfied and wanting more, date asked for the Mac & Shrimp and I got the toast with smoked fish. Again, excellent stuff.
I downed it all with their new Pink Flaminga (made by women brewers and staff) and the Mexi Hazy. Both delicious seasonal IPAs that you have to get now before they are gone forever (their Someone Somewhere is my favorite seasonal from them so far).
From there, back to Tijuana. The drive was as pleasant going back as it was going in. It was a successful romantic Ensenada getaway. I wouldn’t change a moment. I really can’t think of anything that wasn’t right. The Airbnb was a bit pricey for what it was. But it was so worth it. It’s probably been my highlight of 2022.
Told you 2022 was going to be good.
Also, told you my website was going to change. Now the main page is just my photography bio. Which I wrote forever ago. That’s not what the main page is supposed to be. The main page is going to feature the best of my photography work as well as my prices. The blog remains on the side so you can always enjoy it.
I need to fix this website more. Especially the main page. I need to do more photography work. I need to do more writing work. I need to finish Tijuana Adventure in Español. I need to get my passport renewed because it expires soon. I need to do my taxes. I need to get more gigs.
Rent is paid. I have little money in my bank account. I have some money coming my way. Not enough. Need way more.
If you like me or my blog or my videos or pictures or whatever and want to support me… Please do so on Patreon. My drunk ass heavily appreciates it as I still don’t have a real income. Making it as an “artist” is not easy. Every $ is appreciated. And if you want to see me naked, now you can.
Once I make it. The rewards will be grand.
There will be a new drinking beer with Matingas soon… I promise!!!
Matingas 
One response to “Romantic Ensenada Getaway – Cover Shoots, Tons of Shoots – New Website (Still Under Construction)”
What a beautiful blog, in love with it all, so romantic aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh